I am pleased to be here amongst you all today. I
would especially like to congratulate the recipients of last
night’s E Tū Whānau awards for being courageous, for
standing up and for making a difference in our communities.
To speak out against violence is not easy – but this brave
stance that you are all taking will ensure that the future
for our tamariki and mokopuna will be a safer one.

I
am proud of the successes that have been achieved so far in
our E Tū Whānau programme and I believe these successes
are due to the strong foundations of kaupapa Māori that
have been laid. E Tū Whānau starts with whānau and
recognises that solutions to rid our communities of violence
must be founded on kaupapa Māori ways of working. Instead
of focusing on weaknesses, E Tū Whānau focuses on the
strengths of the whānau where Māori drive the solutions. E
Tū Whānau is also very clear that the Government has
responsibilities to support families in this kaupapa. That
is the partnership that needs to happen to take us forward
to eliminate violence.

Today is an opportunity to
bring together key people to share ideas and to plan actions
together - To hear about some of the things that are already
happening and working - To develop shared agreement and
understanding about the stand we are taking as Māori to
shape a different future for our whānau. The workshops
today will focus on strengthening whānau, hapū and iwi as
we work to reduce violence within our communities. The
workshops will also develop a charter for Te Ao Māori that
will be kaupapa Māori based and will include an action plan
to create a future that does not include violence.

Today I am proud to be able to launch the E Tū Whānau
Leadership Toolbox. This toolbox is designed to support
those who commit to the E Tū Whānau kaupapa and the
elimination of violence within whānau and will add to the
resources already available. It is designed to be a quick
and easy tool with information, data and messages that can
be added to and changed to fit local needs and
kaupapa.

Last week in the Budget we announced a commitment
to designing and piloting the concept of a Warrant of
Fitness for housing – in essence, it is setting up the
expectation that everyone is entitled to live in a warm, dry
home, free from dampness and mould – a home that provides
shelter while at the same time being a site of safety.

In
many ways the E Tū Whānau programme represents the same
expectation – that our whānau have the right to live in
homes in which whanaungatanga, whakapapa, wairua, mana and
mauri help bring a sense of well-being for us all.

E
Tū Whānau aligns well with Whānau Ora and as you know
this is a kaupapa that I am also passionate about.

Whānau Ora is about empowering whanau to take control of
their future, to be self-determining, to be living healthy
lifestyles, to be participating fully in society and to be
economically secure. And that includes being violence free.
This aligns with the aspirations of E Tū Whānau and it is
important that these initiatives work closely and support
each other in the journey towards Te Mana Kaha o te
Whanau.

I have a vision for our people built on a
society that nurtures us all - where whānau are happy,
healthy and thriving – but there is still a lot more work
to be done – and I believe the commitment shown by you all
here shows that we have made a great start!

Whānau
Ora and E Tū Whānau will help provide the framework for
change but real change will only come from within – from
us all – as whānau.

Let us celebrate our strengths
today, share our stories, and take pride in our unique
heritage and our shared whakapapa that will help pave the
way forward for a positive future.

We have so much to
be proud of. Let us harness our energy and our many
talents - let us stay strong as a people and enrich our
lives through whakapapa, tikanga and whanaungatanga and most
importantly let us take everybody with us on this journey
for a violence free whānau – a violence free
community.

I would like to congratulate the Māori
Reference Group for their vision and commitment to E Tū
Whānau - and everyone else who has helped to develop the
new Programme of Action including resources to support
whānau, hapū and iwi to achieve positive change.

Today as Associate Minister for Social Development, I am
proud to announce an additional $8m over four years for the
E Tū Whānau programme to help address family violence
within Māori whānau, Pasifika, migrant and refugee
communities.

In many ways, this mahi – E Tū Whānau
– is about investing in the layers of belonging that we
all link to. We know that to strengthen ourselves and to
achieve long-term and real change, we need to work with
whānau, hapū and iwi to identify and use culturally
relevant ways of changing attitudes and behaviours.

The
increase in funding will expand services to focus on
Pasifika, migrant and refugee communities who are also
vulnerable and need culturally relevant support and
assistance to address issues of violence effectively. These
peoples must be the authors of their own destinies.

The E
Tū Whānau programme is making an important contribution to
violence prevention and intervention in families because it
takes a culturally relevant, collaborative and inclusive
approach to transform families.

I wish everyone well
in their work to achieve violence free free families.

In response to the challenges facing Scoop and the media industry we’ve instituted an Ethical Paywall to keep the news freely available to the public.
Organisations whose staff use Scoop at work need to be licensed through a ScoopPro subscription under this new model, these users get access to exclusive news tools.
If you love Scoop you can also support through a monthly donation as a Foundation Supporter.

Teachers and principals voted for a full day strike to be held on 15 August to send a strong message to the Government that the current collective agreement offers from the Ministry of Education would not fix the crisis in teaching.

"There needs to be better investment in education so every child can reach their potential and we have enough teachers for every class", said NZEI Te Riu Roa lead principal negotiator Louise Green. More>>

.

The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) and the Ministry of Education today signed Terms of Settlement to address a pay equity claim for 329 support workers who work with very young children in early childhood and primary schools. More>>

The former president of Australia’s Human Rights Commission Gillian Triggs says deportations have risen dramatically in Australia since 2014 when ministers and ministerial delegates were given the power to cancel visas - and half of those being deported are New Zealanders. "These are massive numbers, actually escalating dramatically."... More>>

Human rights organisation People Against Prisons Aotearoa says a prisoner they advocate for has had 9 boxes of legal documents seized from him just days before his case against the Department of Corrections was to be heard. More>>

Party Leader David Seymour today revealed his Smaller Government Bill which will reduce the size of Parliament to 100 MPs, limit the size of the Executive to 20 Ministers, and remove the Maori seats. More>>